An Idea extension to bring a stop to Traffic and Road Safety Violation in India
A simple idea to bring an end to a few traffic violation?
Most of us agree that one of the major reasons for the ever increasing traffic on roads is of the fact that people don't follow traffic rules.
Not only this is about traffic rules but also road safety (e.x. No helmet). One can provide a lot of excuses to not wear them. I will not dig into the list of excuses, because that would start a debate.
Have you ever faced;
- An auto / truck driver is driving in the 1st lane? And blocking your path on a long drive
- A person you knew, only if had worn a helmet?
- Near close call because the other party was using phone?
I am sure the feeling is not pleasant.
We as employed & educated citizens would not put much effort towards reporting every incident that we come across. Primarily because we are busy in our own life and specially not until some incident bothers us. Isn’t that true?
What is the government doing?
- Deployed more dedicated staff, hired more contract staff
- Setup mobile app to report traffic violation rules
- Installed camera’s and AI on traffic signals
Various State Governments are working independently towards the initiative. Some reference articles are below;
I have spoken to nearly a 1000 people in my circle about the traffic police apps made available by government. My discussion concluded that only 10% know about it and 1% use them.
India is geographically so vast that government cannot deploy staff and AI systems in every corner. But we have people, lots of them, looking to make a daily living with more or less access to smartphones.
The Idea:
In line with the above concepts launched by government, with further elaboration
- A single mobile app to click and report well defined traffic violation across states. Distribution of fines could be worked out state wise 😃.
- Most important: Incentivise (in monetary terms) the person reporting the incidents
Well defined means things like no helmet, no seat belt, using mobile while driving, certain type of vehicles driving in 1st lane, etc.
Isn’t this a new income source for the uneducated / unemployed group? And in India, we have around 7.3% of them.
I can only extend my imagination further about the young generation that instead of spending time on Instagram Reels and TikTok videos, they are here trying to make some pocket money on this app too 👼.
With the current adherence to road rules by drivers, I guestimate that it is not difficult to report 20 incidents in a day. Assume each incident has an average incentive of INR 10.
INR 10 X 20 incidents X 30 days = INR 6000 per month.
Not bad for the people that fall in the lower income group, right?
Benefits for Citizens:
- Disciplined driving causing lesser traffic.
- Safety of you and your loved ones (Specially, you don’t need to reiterate to your beloved to wear a helmet or seat belt).
- Most importantly, find the additional time to spend with your family and friends that one would spend in daily commute.
- For car drivers, find the 1st Lane free from Rickshaws and truck drivers. 😉
Benefits for Traffic Police:
- Extremely low CapEx and OpEx (Needed for running backend processes only).
- Generate income sources for the uneducated sector
- A Big social Cause, if the backend approvers (who confirm that if a violation is valid) are hired from the society who are considered as outcast by the society (I don’t want to get into the debate here, but we all know that this mindset exists)
- Government is free from job commitments (Since, this works basically on lead basis)
Wouldn’t this initiative make it sound “For the People, by the People”?
We live in a society with a set of rules. The same applies to road rules and regulations. If we own a vehicle, we better be accountable to the society around us. For our and others safety and its implied benefits.
Thanks for reading.
